


Enough rice, not enough garlic.

by Stralia_Harker



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Boys In Love, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Modern Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:53:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23660371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stralia_Harker/pseuds/Stralia_Harker
Summary: Wherein the boys learn to cook while under quarantine.My little contribution to the self isolation madness.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Kudos: 25





	Enough rice, not enough garlic.

Steve had just finished putting the last of the canned goods away in the pantry as Billy came in the apartment. He had a few more bags of groceries and a notebook in one hand. Steve grabbed the bags and sighed in relief as he noticed Billy had bought some frozen dinners and pizzas as well as various cans of ravioli and soups. He felt better now that they had a back up plan. He was grateful to Joyce though, she took them to the store and helped pick out enough food to get the two of them through a month. Steve had never been more grateful to be a trust fund brat, they were able to buy everything with no worries. 

The only issue for them now was that neither he nor Billy really knew how to cook. Steve had always had someone who prepared meals or take out. He could make a really awesome bowl of cereal. Neil had attitude about males cooking, so there was a lot of take out in Billy’s life or Neil had whoever his flavor of the month was in the kitchen. Billy was exceptionally good at making ramen noodles. With the variety of frozen foods and canned meals neither boy had really had to learn to cook. 

Billy sat the notebook down on the counter, Steve could see there were a few instructions listed on the page. Cooking times, suggestions on spices and a few dinner ideas. Steve was a little amused at the situation. The two of them had fought monsters, but here they were, nervous about making their own food. Billy brought in one last bag, Steve looked and saw it was full of various spices and sauces. If nothing else they could just cover the food in sauce and maybe they wouldn’t be able to tell how bad it was. 

“I don’t know why this was all necessary, I mean we can still get take out.” Steve borderline whined.

“There’s really only gonna be like two places open, pretty sure we’d get tired of the same thing real fast. We can do this, we can start small. Like in the morning we can make bacon and eggs. Tonight we’ll just throw one of the pizza’s in.” 

So that’s what they did. Frozen pizza and movies that evening, in the morning they stood in the kitchen debating what type of eggs to have, settling on scrambled. Steve figured that would be safest since neither of them knew a damn thing about how to flip an egg. So Steve set about making the eggs, and Billy was in charge of the bacon. The first batch was mostly stuck to the pan and the bacon was a little too crisp. They were working on a second batch of eggs and Billy was laughing that they actually had to youtube “how to make scrambled eggs.” Steve had been a little upset but was starting to see the humor in the situation. He was eternally grateful for youtube. By the end of it they managed to get an edible breakfast set out. 

Day 6 saw them finally attempt dinner. Steve shot Hop a text, jokingly letting him know they were going to be cooking and to be on the lookout for smoke. Billy wisely disabled the smoke alarm and opened the patio door. Neither will ever admit to somehow setting fire to the rice, nor will they admit that the second time they made way too much and had to eat rice with their dinner for the next four days. They did however manage to cook the chicken without burning it or undercooking it. 

Spices were the next hurdle, something as simple as salt had them at a loss. Steve had been so focused on making sure he didn’t recreate Joyce’s runny mashed potatoes, he’d forgotten to salt them. Trying to fix them Billy dumped way too much in and they were not salvageable. The next day they tried to go easy with the garlic, the dish clearly needed more. They used the minced garlic in the jar the next time, discovered it was not the same ratio as fresh garlic and maybe needed to calm down with that. They learned fairly quickly that too much of one spice can overpower a dish, recalling the basil incident. 

By week 3 they had found a rhythm, they weren’t experts by any means, but they were better. Steve did better with breakfast, Billy taking the lead on dinner. Lunch was usually simple, leftovers, sandwiches or one of the back up foods Billy had bought. Billy thought when this was all over and they could shop normally, he’d like to try a few more complex dishes. Maybe some of the casserole recipes he saw, he thought about lasagne but then again maybe that was a little further down the line. 

Steve finally learned how to make eggs sunny side up, just the way Billy liked them. He smiled brightly when he set the plate in front of Billy, toast and bacon completing the meal. Billy dipped his toast in the yolk, content and happy for the change from scrambled eggs. Steve made his eggs over easy and enjoyed each bite, proud of his new skill. He surprised himself with how well they had figured this cooking thing out. 

Meal time had become one of Billy’s favorite times, Steve assisting in preparation. There was an ease to their movements in the kitchen. Billy likened it to a dance, each one knowing how to move around each other, complimenting each other’s work. Sometimes Billy would look over as he cooked and see Steve sipping on wine looking happy and content. Billy was surprised at how comfortable he was with this domestic scene. 

There was a time he never thought he’d have this, and now, here in the middle of a quarantine he’s happy. He’s pulled from his thoughts when he feels something wet and mushy hit his cheek. He reaches up to wipe it off and looks over at Steve, who’s wearing a playful grin. Billy looked at his hand and saw the avocado. He scooped up a handful and ran after Steve, they were definitely going to keep cooking once the quarantine was over.


End file.
